Happy 8 Months, Evelyn!

Evelyn is 8 months old today!  I still wake up every day and pinch myself to be sure this is really my life, and then of course, I wish I could roll over and go back to sleep.  As most of you know, I have never been much of a morning person!  In all seriousness, I am so grateful for Evelyn, and I really don't mind mornings when they're spent with her.

Our little musician playing a song on her piano, waiting for our applause

This week, Evelyn has learned to clap.  It is so cute, and she now applauds herself frequently and looks to us to do the same.  It is incredible to watch her learn new things every day.  She is able to feed herself finger foods now, like cheerios, and of course expects applause after that, as well!  The cheerios are great for keeping her busy, although somehow we have become those parents with drool stains on our shoulder and crunched up cheerios in our pockets.

Evelyn has been working on getting her teeth over the past week, so sleep has not been as plentiful as we'd like.  Evelyn's teeth are not quite through the surface, but we can feel them in there, and she's been a drooly mess.  My great-aunt informed me that it's an old Italian custom that the first one to spot a tooth in her mouth has to buy her a pair of shoes.  Consider yourselves warned!  I feel like we're perpetually working on her sleep schedule, and we still haven't settled into a great nap routine (at least the nights are still going well!).  Some days I'm okay with it, and other days I find myself frustrated that I can't make plans around her naps or have even an hour to myself during the day.  

When we were at the grocery store yesterday, I had Evelyn in her fabric grocery cart liner, and somehow she managed to move it aside as I was grabbing an item off the shelf.  When I looked back at her, she was gnawing and sucking on the metal of the grocery cart.  EEWWW!!!  I tried to tell her how many germs were on there, so she instead rubbed her Mum-Mum cracker all over it then ate the cracker.  I have mellowed out about a lot of things since Evelyn was born, but germy grocery carts are not one of them!!

Here's one way to get the girl to nap!

To add a little excitement to our week, our furnace stopped working on Friday morning.  It was pretty chilly in the house, but Evelyn didn't make any complaints about it.  We put an extra layer on and made the best of it.

All bundled up in our chilly house

Speaking of bundling up, we still try to get out for walks, but this is what we look like nowadays.  I feel like I belong in the circus sometimes!

Self-portrait before taking Roscoe out for a walk

Last, but certainly not least, we lost a special member of our family yesterday.  My Great-Uncle Bob passed away in Florida at the age of 85.  Matt and I visited Uncle Bob and Aunt Joan last winter on our babymoon, and they were almost like another set of grandparents to me, because they didn't have any children of their own.  I will remember Uncle Bob first and foremost for his love of family and friends, being proud of being a Zehnacker, and of course for his love of Aunt Joan's awesome Italian cooking.  Please join me in praying for Aunt Joan and Uncle Bob, who had been married for almost 60 years.